The Colorado Avalanche have something to prove in the 2025-26 season after being eliminated in the 2024-25 postseason by the Dallas Stars. The team might have to rely on some younger players at some point. Or, they might have the luxury, if all things go well in players’ development.
One of the things that calling on a prospect would help is the team’s salary cap situation. Though it’s not an issue at this point in time—especially with the fact that Gabriel Landeskog will be on the ice and the team doesn’t have to wonder anymore—being able to call on some cheaper options isn’t a bad thing. Currently, the Avalanche have $1.33 million in cap space.
So, what changes could the team make that would not necessarily be the reason to call on prospects, but a luxury to open up some room to grow for the future? In a way, get a head start on the development part of the team.
3. Ilya Nabokov, Goaltender
Ilya Nabokov signed a two-year entry-level contract with the Colorado Avalanche at a cap hit of $975k. Many believe, or at least hope, that the Russian goaltender can take over as the team’s starter at some point.
Nabokov was selected in the second round of the 2024 NHL draft, and is what they call an “over-ager,” which means that he was passed over in a previous NHL draft. The 22 year old comes with experience, and the Avalanche have made it clear that they wanted to get him to North America as soon as they could so that he could get acclimated to the differences between the KHL and NHL.
Perhaps, at some point, Nabokov could overtake Scott Wedgewood’s role of backing up Mackenzie Blackwood. Wedgewood has a cap hit of $1.5 million this year, and will hit free agency after the season. This could be Nabokov’s time to shine.
2. Nikita Prishchepov, Center
Nikita Prishchepov was selected in the seventh round of the 2024 NHL Draft and is a good example of a late-round draft pick who was able to do enough to find some NHL ice time. Though it was short-lived, Prishchepov played in 10 games for the Avalanche, but spent 51 other games with the Eagles. I really thought that he did plenty to earn more playing time in the NHL last season, but he was only called upon for 10 games.
While with the Eagles, Prishchepov had nine goals and 14 assists. He had no points with the Avalanche, but he made his presence known by chasing after the puck and making plays that weren’t counted on the actual stat sheet.
There isn’t room for Prishchepov with the current state of the Avalanche’s roster, but in a couple of years, there could be. Parker Kelly was a huge player for the Avalanche last season, and is currently listed as their fourth-line center. If he were to go down with an injury, maybe Prishchepov’s number would be called.
If not, he’ll still get plenty of game action with the Eagles until the Avalanche deem him ready for the big league. There’s no point in rushing any player. They’ll just be happy to have him when they see fit.
1. Gavin Brindley, Center
When the Colorado Avalanche acquired Gavin Brindley from the Columbus Blue Jackets in the Charlie Coyle/Miles Wood trade, he was quickly deemed as the organization’s best prospect. Instantly, that scared me simply because that implies that the Avalanche’s prospect pool was terrible.
Don’t get me wrong—that’s not a knock on Brindley. It is just shocking because Brindley is a 5’8” center. I did write about the acquisition and how nobody should write Brindley off because of his size, citing Brad Marchand as a success story.
Curtis Deem of Union and Blue, FanSided’s Columbus Blue Jackets site, said in January that the team was best to take it slow with Brindley. That will be the case for him with the Avalanche, but like I said in the past, just because he’s 5’8” doesn’t eliminate him from having a successful career.
Because of chatter in the past, I’m pretty excited to see what kind of impact Brindley will have with the Avalanche organization. Hopefully, this is the start of a successful career in Colorado.
